I've got 2 older computers that I currently use. They were gifts from a friend when he got new ones. Both are Dell PCs that were preloaded with Win ME and Pro2000 respectively. I think I have the installation discs for the OSs. I am planning on building a rock 'em - sock 'em $1500 PC by Q1 '10. Am I wise to buy a Win7 Home Premium upgrade by July 13? Would I have to install it on top of the current OS in the stuffed 40Gb HD that each box has? Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm thinking that perhaps the Win7 upgrade applies only to XP and Vista....
VirtualLarry
No Lifer
- Aug 25, 2001
- 56,574
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for everyone that has gone from xp to win 7 rc (or beta) on their machines; MS wants us to re-install xp, then upgrade to win 7? Wow...a lot of work to get to the final win 7. I wish they would just check for media and move on. Sean
Totally agree, that's the main reason I'm not inclined to get the upgrade version. The extra cost for the retail version would be worth it after the second install.
alevasseur14
Golden Member
- Feb 12, 2005
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I was concerned with this 'upgrade' issue with Vista too but it's really not that hard to do the initial install, not enter a product key, and then start another install from within the copy you just installed. I think it's about as close as we can get to a clean install today without shelling out all those extra bucks for the retail version.
I thought it had been settled that MS wasn't going to change this loophole from the Vista days. This is still doable, right?
I thought it had been settled that MS wasn't going to change this loophole from the Vista days. This is still doable, right?
If that fails, there's still a $200 difference between preordering Pro upgrade and buying Pro full (and $150 for Home Premium), for which you'll probably be able to find a cheap copy of Vista Home Basic on E-Bay to install over.
So pre-ordering the upgrade saves you money over the full version no matter what.
The question of whether to go with Home or Pro depends on whether you plan to move your installation to another computer. If you're going with OEM, you should probably use Home, since you can't move it to another computer (unless you are getting an UBER gaming rig with 6 4GB sticks of RAM or something, but that's probably less than 1% of all people on this forum). However, if you're betting Windows 8 and 9 will suck, you can get Pro so you can have a nice OS for the times when 16 GB is the norm.
alevasseur14
Golden Member
- Feb 12, 2005
- 1,760
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I'll still have my copy of Vista to do an initial install with if it doesn't work also. I'd forgotten about that. Hard to believe that there will be people lining up at my door to take a used copy of Vista Ultimate off my hands.
Now, I also remember reading (I think on Paul Thurrot's Supersite?) that Professional users will be able to download any of the added functionality Ultimate has over Pro for free. Anybody heard this?
Are you sure that includes video ram?
It's not a hardware limit anymore, purely software.
It wouldn't be unreasonable for systems to have 16GB to 24GB of ram by 2011/2012 though. And video cards to have 2GB to 4GB of ram.
Still, I don't think the 16GB barrier will be too restrictive for most people (assuming windows 8 by 2012). The people who do serious work that needs more will know that now and buy professional editions.
StinkyPinky
Diamond Member
- Jul 6, 2002
- 6,956
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Even if you could, that would cost significantly more than just getting Pro in the first place, considering you'd have to pay for both upgrade packages. Plus, you can get Pro at a discount right now.
Win7 upgrade will be no diff than the Vista upgrade was, per the tech net.
If you buy an upgrade and put the disc in your drive, it will immediately start searching for your existing OS.
Once it finds it, there is nothing else to do but to put in the Win7 keys.
If you wont a fresh install on a formatted drive? it's similar to the above, except when it can't find the old OS, it will then ask you for your old cd and keys to verify you have them. Then it will install Win7 and ask for the keys to it.
You still have to go thru product activation whichever way you go.
If you are going from Vista to W7, then an in place upgrade might work fairly well because much of the file structures are the same. A few of your programs might need reinstalling, but not many. Fresh installs are always the best bet.
If your going from XP to W7, only do the fresh install. The upgrade is slow and most things get erased anyway and most of your programs that stretch out of the program folder will quit working.
As long as I have been working with the diff versions of W7, I really can't tell the diff between them. On the surface they all act the same. pro and ultimate have a little more under the hood for techies and tweakers but not enough to justify the price diff. Pro does have more administrative tools.
Hope that helps.
If you buy an upgrade and put the disc in your drive, it will immediately start searching for your existing OS.
Once it finds it, there is nothing else to do but to put in the Win7 keys.
If you wont a fresh install on a formatted drive? it's similar to the above, except when it can't find the old OS, it will then ask you for your old cd and keys to verify you have them. Then it will install Win7 and ask for the keys to it.
You still have to go thru product activation whichever way you go.
If you are going from Vista to W7, then an in place upgrade might work fairly well because much of the file structures are the same. A few of your programs might need reinstalling, but not many. Fresh installs are always the best bet.
If your going from XP to W7, only do the fresh install. The upgrade is slow and most things get erased anyway and most of your programs that stretch out of the program folder will quit working.
As long as I have been working with the diff versions of W7, I really can't tell the diff between them. On the surface they all act the same. pro and ultimate have a little more under the hood for techies and tweakers but not enough to justify the price diff. Pro does have more administrative tools.
Hope that helps.
RebateMonger
Elite Member
- Dec 24, 2005
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Majic 7
Senior member
- Mar 27, 2008
- 668
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Here is a thread with an answer from JessicaD. This is as close as I can find to semi-official.
http://windows7forums.com/wind...tall-upgrade-only.html
The Technet forums and the public Technet site and Windows Answers forums only have the standard spiel about having to have an OS installed as far as I can see. This thread is being referenced on the TechNet forums, that is where I found it.
gsellis
Diamond Member
- Dec 4, 2003
- 6,061
- 0
- 0
Unless you plan to setup a domain and join it, don't worry about it. At this time in the non-server world, there are not really any apps that can benefit from 16GB of memory space. And by the time you get to the point of using such an app, you will probably need the next generation of hardware to get any kind of performance using that app.
So while looking ahead is great, other considerations make it a minor issue.
Majic 7
Senior member
- Mar 27, 2008
- 668
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- 0
The Windows 7 forums seem to be down right now. Yesterday I had about four hours when I could only get to XtremeSystems, don't know how that happened. That site is the one I usually have the most trouble with. The answer given by JessicaD in that thread was that you could do a fresh install on a formatted drive by inserting a DVD and giving the key when prompted. She has posted on these forums so maybe it would be possible to get clarification from her.
http://windows7forums.com/wind...ing-upgrade-media.html Suggests the clean install - reinstall using a 7 upgrade disc will work just as it did for Vista.
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